9 Pennsylvania Sayings That Leave Out-of-Towners Confused

Think you speak the same English as a Pittsburgh native?

You don’t.

Somewhere between the Liberty Bell and the Terrible Towel, the language splits in two, and most visitors never catch the switch.

These are the Pennsylvania sayings that leave other Americans smiling and completely lost.

1. Yinz

Yinz is how western Pennsylvania says “you all,” and it stumps every newcomer at the register.

The word traces back to Scots-Irish settlers who said “you ones,” which slurred down to “yinz” across a couple of centuries.

Around Pittsburgh, a Steelers fan will ask if yinz want another Iron City before kickoff.

Those roots run deep enough that you ones is where linguists point when they explain it.

Pure Pittsburgh.

It marks a local so fast that the nickname for the whole crowd is Yinzer.

2. Jawn

Jawn might be the most flexible word in Philadelphia, because it can stand in for almost anything.

A jawn is a person, a place, a sandwich, a situation, or the thing you forgot the name of.

“Hand me that jawn” works whether you mean a wrench, a phone, or a cheesesteak off the counter at Pat’s.

One word.

It grew out of the word “joint,” and it eventually earned a spot in the dictionary.

Outsiders hear it once and assume they misheard, then they hear it forty more times before lunch.

3. Hoagie

Hoagie is what Pennsylvanians call the sandwich the rest of the country calls a sub.

Ask for a sub at a Wawa in the Philadelphia suburbs, and the staff will still point you to the hoagie menu.

Philadelphia liked it enough to make the hoagie its official sandwich back in 1992.

Not a sub.

In South Philly, the corner shops slice the meat to order while you stand at the case.

Order an Italian hoagie with oil and sharp provolone, and nobody behind the counter blinks.

Call it a hero or a grinder, though, and every transplant in line pegs you as fresh off the interstate.

4. Youse

Youse is Philadelphia’s answer to the plural “you,” and it does the same job yinz does out west.

The east side of the state says “youse guys,” while the west side says “yinz,” and neither side budges.

You’ll hear it in Scranton, in South Philly, and anywhere an Eagles crowd files out of the Linc.

Take your pick.

The spelling starts arguments, because half the region writes “yous” with no e on the end.

Whichever way it lands on paper, it means the same crowd of people standing right in front of you.

5. Redd Up

Redd up means to clean or tidy, and it baffles anyone who didn’t grow up hearing it at home.

A mother in Greensburg tells the kids to redd up their rooms before company shows up on Sunday.

The phrase carries the same Scots-Irish roots as yinz, which is why the western half of the state held onto it.

Tidy up.

Nobody redds up the car, though, so the word stays parked on rooms, kitchens, and whole houses.

Drop it on a visitor from Ohio, and they’ll assume you invented a verb on the spot.

6. N'at

People tack n'at onto the end of a sentence, and it means "and that" or "and so on."

Somebody grabs a Primanti Bros sandwich with the fries piled inside, a few pierogies, n'at.

It works like a verbal shrug that covers whatever the speaker didn't bother to list.

Many locals barely notice they're saying it, and that's exactly why it slips past everyone else.

And so on.

Say it fast, and it blurs into a single syllable at the tail of the thought.

An outsider keeps waiting for the rest of the sentence that already finished.

7. Gumband

Gumband is the Pittsburgh word for a plain rubber band, and outsiders never see it coming.

Ask a native for a gumband, and they'll know exactly what you need without a second thought.

Everybody else pictures gum, then chewing, then a small cloud of total confusion.

Nobody in Pittsburgh can explain why it isn't just a rubber band like everywhere else.

Rubber band.

It turns up in kitchen drawers and wrapped around the morning paper all over the western counties.

Kids hear it so young that "rubber band" sounds like the strange version to them.

8. Slippy

Slippy just means slippery, and western Pennsylvania drops that extra syllable without apology.

After an ice storm, the porch steps turn slippy, and a neighbor warns you before you reach the door.

The steep streets near Mount Washington get slippy fast once winter settles over the rivers.

Watch it.

Say "slippery" the long way around Pittsburgh, and you'll sound like you're trying too hard.

A transplant learns the short version the first time they hit black ice on a hill.

9. Nebby

Nebby describes a nosy neighbor, the kind who clocks every car that pulls into the cul-de-sac.

Call somebody nebby around Pittsburgh, and everyone at the table knows the exact type you mean.

Too nosy.

The word shares those same Scots-Irish roots that shaped half of this list.